In a substrate processing apparatus for performing a process such as a plasma process on a wafer that serves as a substrate, processing conditions of the plasma process for the wafer are not usually changed while processing a specific number of wafers, wherein the specific number is equivalent to the number of wafers forming one lot. Furthermore, a set of the processing conditions of the plasma process performed in the substrate processing apparatus is called a recipe, which is stored in a server or the like connected to the substrate processing apparatus.
The substrate processing apparatus includes a process unit for performing the plasma process on each wafer in a processing chamber; a loader unit for unloading a wafer to transfer it from a container that accommodates the specific number of wafers; and a load-lock unit for transmitting wafers between the loader unit and the process unit. While the substrate processing apparatus processes the specific number of wafers, the wafers are transferred between the process units, the loader unit and the load-lock units (see, for an example, Japanese Patent Publication Application No. 2004-319961, FIG. 7).
Meanwhile, the examination of a recipe for a plasma process is performed by using the substrate processing apparatus itself. Specifically, when a plasma process based on a given recipe is performed on a wafer, a light emitting state of the plasma within the process chamber of each process unit is measured, and the recipe (e.g., a pressure in the process chamber and/or a flow rate of a processing gas) is modified based on the results of the measurement. In this manner, a recipe for the plasma process that can achieve desired results can be found out.
However, in the conventional substrate processing apparatus, a recipe cannot be modified until the plasma process has been performed on all of the specific number of the wafers, and therefore, for modifying the recipe, it is necessary to wait until the plasma process is completed on all the wafers, or it is necessary to remove all the wafers from the substrate processing apparatus. More specifically, it is necessary to return all of the wafers into the container even in a case where the plasma process is not performed on all of the specific number of the wafers. Therefore, a significant amount of time is consumed before examining the recipe.